This doctoral thesis investigates ‘Otherness’ through works which have thoroughly examined and questioned the creation of a “stable self” by putting it in dialogue with its others and to society as a whole, namely William Butler Yeats’s selected poems, James Joyce’s Dubliners, (1914) Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, (1899) Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), and Assia Djebar’s L’Amour, La Fantasia (1985).
By representing the results of English, Belgian and French oppression in tangible material terms as well as its spiritual bankruptcies, these writers mark their works as clearly critical of the colonial regime and opposed to colonial exploitation, positioning themselves as postcolonial through their representations. In this sense, their texts raise issues debated in current postcolonial discussions. Speaking in the voice of the oppressed, in the language of the oppressor, as a weapon to make cultural difference visible, these writers analyse the problem of identity crisis, displacement, disintegration and the effects of colonialism on the culture and psyche of the colonised subject.
Despite their differing conceptions of Irishness, both William Butler Yeats and James Joyce repudiated things English and helped to defend their history as well as regain pride in their race. The Other in these writers is presented not in terms of colour but conceived in relation to city/countryside, past/present, and Protestant/Catholic.
The theoretical questions that haunted Chinua Achebe’s career as a writer were also prompted by the desire to re-orientate cultural discourse and initiate a discourse of resistance. In his commitment to questions relating to identity and the relationship of the individual and history, Achebe like the above-mentioned Irish writers contributed to the analysis of colonisation and the natives’ resistance to oppression both at the level of the individual and that of the nation.
As another marginalised writer, Joseph Conrad anticipated Yeats’s prophecy in his 1921 poem, ‘The Second Coming,’ several years earlier with the publication of Heart of Darkness. Whereas Yeats saw the spiral shapes of history, Conrad saw the emptiness at the centre of civilisation and the atrocities at the margins. He showed the hollow morality at the centre of the imperialist enterprise, one that could not hold. He too wrote about the paralysis of modern society, the disruption of traditional society under the impact of intruding forces.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. PART I: Colonialism and its Legacies of Darkness
2.1. Chapter I: The Irish Colonial Experience
2.1.1. 1.1. Religious Tensions
2.1.2. 1.2. The Cromwellian Re-Conquest of Ireland
2.1.3. 1.3. The Penal Laws
2.1.4. 1.4. The Act of Union
2.1.5. 1.5. Catholic Emancipation
2.1.6. 1.6. The Great Famine
2.1.7. 1.7. Home Rule, Rome Rule
2.2. Chapter II: Nigeria’s Falling Apart
2.2.1. 2.1. Indirect Rule
2.2.2. 2.2. Divide and Rule
2.2.3. 2.3. The Unification of Nigeria
2.3. Chapter III: Algeria’s Long Road to Peace
2.3.1. 3.1. Opposition to Occupation
2.3.1.1. 3.1.1. The Sétif Massacres
2.3.1.2. 3.1.2. “La chasse à l'Arabe”
2.3.1.3. 3.1.3. The Algerian War of Independence
2.3.1.4. 3.1.4. The Massacres of October 1961
2.4. Chapter IV: Leopold II’s Congo: a Negation of Humanity
2.4.1. 4.1. The Humanitarian Disaster
2.4.1.1. 4.1.1. Rubber Boom, Congo Doom
2.4.2. 4.2. The Outcry
2.4.3. 4.3. Post-Leopoldian Era
3. PART II: At the Crossroads of Cultures
3.1. Chapter V: ‘Barbaric’ Others: Why are They not so Blest?
3.1.1. 5.1. Stereotyping/Othering as a Culture Disease
3.1.2. 5.2. Scientific Approach to Otherness
3.1.3. 5.3. The Ideology of English, Belgian and French Colonisations
3.1.3.1. 5.3.1. “The White Negroes”
3.1.3.2. 5.3.2. Victorian Ethnology
3.1.3.3. 5.3.3. The African Mind
3.2. Chapter VI: Postcolonial Theory
3.2.1. 6.1. Postcolonial Theorists and the Subaltern
3.2.1.1. 6.1.1. The Distinctive Force of Fanon’s Vision
3.2.1.2. 6.1.2. Edward Said, the Orient and the Oriental
3.2.1.3. 6.1.3. Homi Bhabha’s notions of ambivalence, mimicry, hybridity, liminality
3.2.1.4. 6.1.4. Culture under Female Eyes
3.2.2. 6.2. Postcolonial Literature
3.2.2.1. 6.2.1. Linguistic Fracture
3.3. Chapter VII: Apocalypse Then
3.3.1. 7.1. The Inglorious Enterprise in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
3.3.2. 7.2. The Centre of Paralysis in James Joyce’s Dubliners and W.B.Yeats’s ‘The Second Coming’
3.3.3. 7.3. The Frontiers of Chaos in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
3.3.4. 7.4. The Specter of Colonialism in Assia Djebar’s L’Amour, la Fantasia
3.4. Chapter VIII: Re-Inventing Ireland: W.B.Yeats’s Poetry and James Joyce’s Dubliners
3.4.1. 8.1. Linguistic Nationalism in Ireland
3.4.2. 8.2. The Celtic Element in Yeats’s Poetry
3.4.3. 8.3. The question of Irishness in Joyce’s Dubliners
3.5. Chapter IX: Mapping the Subaltern: Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
3.5.1. 9.1. Joseph Conrad under Postcolonial Eyes
3.5.1.1. 9.1.1. The Politics of Representation of the African Native
3.5.1.2. 9.1.2. The Eloquent Silence in Heart of Darkness
3.5.2. 9.2. Deconstructing the Colonialist Rhetoric: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
3.6. Chapter X: Making Sense of a Double Colonisation: Assia Djebar’s L’Amour, la Fantasia
3.6.1. 10.1. Oppression as Culture
3.6.2. 10.2. Breaking the Vow of Silence
3.6.2.1. 10.2.1. The Significance of the Veil
3.6.2.2. 10.2.2. “La Langue marâtre”
3.7. Chapter XI: Woman’s Place in: Achebe, Conrad; Yeats, and Joyce
3.7.1. 11.1. The Anxiety of Masculinity in Chinua Achebe’s Work
3.7.2. 11.2. The Woman Question in Joseph Conrad’s Work
3.7.3. 11.3. So Beautiful Altogether: The Female Image in W.B. Yeats’s Poetry
3.7.4. 11.4. The Gender Issue in James Joyce’s Dubliners
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis investigates the multifaceted phenomenon of "Otherness" within colonial and postcolonial contexts, focusing on the historical and ideological power dynamics between European powers and their colonies. It explores how literature reflects and resists the construction of the "Other" by examining select works from Ireland, Nigeria, the Congo, and Algeria, aiming to dismantle binary oppositions between "Self" and "Other."
- The historical impact of colonial rule on cultural identity in Ireland, Nigeria, the Congo, and Algeria.
- The function of "Othering" and stereotyping as tools of colonial domination and subject control.
- The relationship between colonial power, colonial knowledge, and the construction of "civilized" vs. "barbaric" subjects.
- The role of gender, patriarchy, and language in the lived experience of the colonized.
- Postcolonial counter-discourses and the reconstruction of identity through literature and "writing back."
Excerpt from the Book
The Irish Colonial Experience
Colonialism has indisputably shaped Irish history, destroyed Ireland’s civilisation and ushered in the Dark Ages. The Anglo-Irish problem has long been reckoned as Britain’s (or England’s) Irish question. Cultural critic Terry Eagleton, has written that Ireland signifies “roots, belonging, and traditions,” but we could posit that Ireland also spells subordination, exile, dislocation, acculturation and trauma. Centuries of British hegemony, tensions between the Catholics and the Protestants, and Irish resistance offer a dramatic account of the pitfalls that accompanied the conquest of Ireland.
Despite some distinct differences of temperament, philosophical outlook, culture and tradition, the English and the Irish have the same skin colour, and share the same ideals of life. So why had their countries been at death-grips with each other for many centuries? This chapter is an attempt to provide some insight into Ireland’s long and complex history. We shall not only analyse the roots and development of tensions, but also their culmination to see what forces helped intensify English hostility vis à vis their close neighbour and what impact the clash had on the Irish community.
Historian Lawrence McCaffrey asserted that England had no special views on Ireland until an Irishman named Dermot MacMurrough went to Wales asking for help after having been ousted from his kingship in Leinster. MacMurrough enlisted the assistance of Richard de Clare, the second Earl of Pembroke, nicknamed Strongbow, whom he persuaded to bring Norman soldiers to the Island in return of which he promised him his daughter’s hand and the Leinster throne. That day in 1169 marked the beginning of more than eight hundred years of direct English involvement in Ireland. Although the Normans occupied only the eastern part of Ireland, after having defeated the Irish in Ulster, they gradually extended their control over the whole country. Soon after their incursion, the Normans began some reforms, many of which dealt with the granting of land, and violated the traditional political and social structure.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter I: The Irish Colonial Experience: This chapter examines the long history of British control in Ireland, focusing on religious tensions between Catholics and Protestants, land expropriation, the impact of the Penal Laws, and the trauma of the Great Famine.
Chapter II: Nigeria’s Falling Apart: This section investigates the British imposition of "indirect rule" in Nigeria, detailing how colonial policies exploited existing ethnic divisions and exacerbated tensions between the North and South.
Chapter III: Algeria’s Long Road to Peace: The analysis centers on the French colonization of Algeria, the brutal nature of "direct rule," and the subsequent Algerian struggle for independence, including the Sétif Massacres and the war against French occupation.
Chapter IV: Leopold II’s Congo: a Negation of Humanity: This chapter chronicles the humanitarian catastrophe in the Congo under King Leopold II, describing the system of forced labor used for rubber and ivory extraction as a form of colonial barbarism.
Chapter V: ‘Barbaric’ Others: Why are They not so Blest?: This chapter explores how ethnocentric prejudices and Victorian pseudo-sciences were used to justify imperial expansion and define colonized peoples as racially inferior.
Chapter VI: Postcolonial Theory: This section introduces key postcolonial conceptual tools, such as Fanon’s notions of mimicry and Said’s Orientalism, providing a framework for analyzing literary representations of the colonial encounter.
Chapter VII: Apocalypse Then: This chapter analyzes how Yeats, Joyce, Conrad, and Achebe use their respective literature to reflect on the destructive impact of colonial politics and the impending collapse of civilization.
Chapter VIII: Re-Inventing Ireland: W.B.Yeats’s Poetry and James Joyce’s Dubliners: This chapter investigates how Yeats and Joyce engaged with the question of Irish national identity, language, and cultural revival in the face of British imperial influence.
Chapter IX: Mapping the Subaltern: Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: This chapter critiques the colonial representations in Conrad’s work through Achebe’s postcolonial lens, comparing their depictions of cultural clash and the erasure of indigenous histories.
Chapter X: Making Sense of a Double Colonisation: Assia Djebar’s L’Amour, la Fantasia: This section explores Assia Djebar’s work as a feminist and postcolonial critique of French colonialism and Algerian patriarchy, focusing on the role of women and the significance of the veil.
Chapter XI: Woman’s Place in: Achebe, Conrad; Yeats, and Joyce: The final chapter analyzes gender relations in the works of these four male authors, examining how they represent (or misrepresent) the marginalization and liberation of women in the colonial and postcolonial landscape.
Keywords
Postcolonialism, Colonialism, Otherness, Alterity, Identity, Nationalism, Stereotyping, Gender, Patriarchy, Orientalism, Mimicry, Hybridity, Culture, Literature, Decolonisation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this dissertation?
The work examines the concept of "Otherness" in cross-cultural encounters between European powers (Britain, France, Belgium) and their colonies (Ireland, Nigeria, Algeria, Congo) through literature.
What are the primary themes discussed in the work?
Central themes include the construction of identity under colonial rule, the ideological justifications for imperialism, resistance movements, the role of gender in both colonial and native hierarchies, and the power of language as both a tool of oppression and a medium for resistance.
What is the primary objective of this research?
The aim is to investigate how selected literary texts by Yeats, Joyce, Conrad, Achebe, and Djebar expose the paradoxes of colonial power and allow the colonized subject to assert a voice of resistance.
Which scientific or theoretical methods are applied?
The analysis utilizes postcolonial theory, intertextuality, and sociocriticism. It also engages with psychoanalytic perspectives—without being strictly psychoanalytic—to understand the psychology of the colonizer/colonized relationship.
What topics are covered in the major chapters of the book?
The book is divided into two parts. Part I provides the historical/social background of the Irish and African colonial experiences. Part II applies theoretical analysis to literature, exploring how writers represent the colonial encounter, the "Other," and the "Woman Question."
Which key terms summarize the arguments?
Key terms include "Postcolonialism," "Alterity," "Colonial Discourse," "Hybridity," "Mimicry," and "Double Colonization."
How does Assia Djebar’s writing challenge traditional historiography?
Djebar uses a fragmentary narrative structure to interweave oral history with French archival records, effectively reinserting the female perspective into the historical narrative of Algeria’s conquest and resistance.
How does the author analyze the representation of women in the works of male authors like Achebe and Conrad?
The author argues that while these male writers often initially marginalized women as passive or "shadowy" figures, their later works—particularly in Conrad’s mature fiction or Achebe’s later novels—reflect an increasing awareness of gender inequalities and a revisionist approach to the female subject.
- Citar trabajo
- Doctor Malika Rebai Maamri (Autor), 2009, Cross-Cultural and Ideological Perceptions of the Other in: W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, Chinua Achebe and Assia Djebar, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/276186
